Meanwhile, according to federal court records unsealed yesterday following the arrest of a man accused of distributing and selling the stuff, the sale of “marijuana analogues” continues in North Texas, with a Harry Hines Boulevard-based smoke shop serving as a distribution and manufacturing hub.

According to the affidavit of a DEA special agent, in April of this year a source tipped off feds that the EZ Way Smoke Shop was, at least until recently, “a large distributor and/or manufacturer of marijuana analogues.” That source also named names: James Stuart and Evelyn Worthington, who, according to the source, were making their own product “in bulk” and “purchasing additional synthetic cannabis from EZ Way Smoke Shop.”

The affidavit says Worthington owned and operated a place called Sweet D’s in Paris, Texas, where federal authorities say a man named Bradley Lenington sold fake weed with such street names as “Black Lion” and “Purefire” to undercover Paris police officers. Investigators keeping an eye on the place for the last five months say they saw customers streaming in and out of Sweet D’s, with no one lingering longer than 60 seconds. Says the affidavit, “The rush of vehicles arriving and departing nearly caused accidents on many occasions.”

When they came out, says the affidavit, customers weren’t carrying anything. But it didn’t take long to figure out what they were doing: “Investigators often observed customers, and their drivers, immediately open packages and begin to smoke what appeared to be self-rolled cigarettes (joints) or small pipes, which is consistent with the consumption of a controlled substances, once they were back in their vehicles.”

In May Lenington was pulled over at Sweet D’s after officers witnessed a “hand-to-hand drug transaction.” They found “numerous packages of synthetic cannabis” and a locked money bag filled with $20 bills. But James Stuart didn’t take kindly to the pull-over: He called Paris Police Chief Bob Hundley to complain officers were harassing his employee.

Five weeks later, the feds got involved, executing search warrants at the homes of Stuart, Lenington and Worthington — the latter of whom told DEA agents everything they wanted to know, according to the affidavit.

Worthington said that in January of last year, she and Stuart came to Dallas to make their first bulk purchase from EZ Way Smoke Shop. Initially they paid cash for the product, which cost $6.50 a gram, but eventually switched over to money orders, cashier’s checks and finally checks written straight from Sweeet D’s account. Authorities say that more than $80,000 in checks had been written to EZ Way Smoke Shop since January of last year.

“Worthington admitted to investigators that they (everyone associated with Sweet D’s) were aware that individuals were smoking the producers they were selling,” says the affidavit, “and that the manufacturers were attempting to stay one step ahead of law enforcement by continuing to change the chemical make-up of the product.”

Lenington, who said he used to be the manager of Sweet D’s and worked for Stuart and Worthington, also spoke to investigators and explained how the operation worked.

“According to Lennington, around October 2012 and afterward, he accompanied Stuart to purchase syntheic cannabis from EZ Way Smoke Shop on at least five occasions,” says the affidavit. “The products were picked up in Lewisville, Texas, and the bulk product was packaged in 3 x 3 x 3 foot containers, and some product was sent to Worthington via FedEx from Arlington, Texas. Lenington stated that each sale ranged from $50,000 – $150,000 and Stuart always paid in cash.”

Sweet D’s closed June 6. After that, Lenington told investigators, he picked up the fake weed from Stuart almost every day and began selling “hand-to-hand.”

Stuart was arrested yesterday, and the government is asking a judge to keep him behind bars before his trial, insisting there is a “serious risk [he] will flee” before then.

Reached by phone today, a manager at EZ Way Smoke Shop said the store changed hands “a few months ago,” and that “we don’t sell any type of potpourri or fake weed or anything like that. We might have a few months ago, but not anymore.”

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